UConn Students Rally Against Vandalism Of LGBTQ-Focused Exhibit

UConn Speak Out

Stephen Dunn

Fleurette King, Director of the Rainbow Center on the UConn campus, was the first of 12 speakers at the UConn Speak Out event in support of the LGBTQ community Tuesday. Close to 200 students attended the event which was held in response to recent events on campus that targeted the gay community.

Fleurette King, Director of the Rainbow Center on the UConn campus, was the first of 12 speakers at the UConn Speak Out event in support of the LGBTQ community Tuesday. Close to 200 students attended the event which was held in response to recent events on campus that targeted the gay community. (Stephen Dunn)

UConn students rallied Tuesday in response to the vandalism of an art exhibit last month.

HARTFORD — When an LGBTQ-focused photography exhibit was set up inside the UConn Student Union last month, members of the university's Rainbow Center for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning students thought it was a wonderful step forward for the school.

When the exhibit was vandalized just days after opening, it shook the campus community to the core.

Rachel Conboy, a graduate of East Hartford High School who was recently elected UConn's Undergraduate Student Government president, said that the incident was a rude awakening in a place where she generally felt welcomed.

Conboy was one of several speakers at a Speak Out rally held at the university on Tuesday in response to the vandalism. Students, staff members and state officials attended the event, which organizers said was meant to start a conversation about hate speech on campus.

"Our work is not done, people," said Fleurette King, director of the Rainbow Center.

The vandalism, which included inappropriate drawings on photographs in the exhibit and the message "god hates the gays" written in the exhibit's sign-in book, remains under investigation by the university police, UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said.

"We're encouraging anyone with information to report it to UConn Police," she said. "It's very important to us that everyone at the University, particularly in the LGBTQ community, knows that we are taking this incident extremely seriously."

On Tuesday, several students stood up before hundreds of their peers to share stories of their own experiences with hate speech, on and off campus. Benjamin Plant, one of the rally's organizers, said that since the exhibit was vandalized, he's heard a lot of people say that the perpetrator was probably just joking.

"The fact that the vandal may have not understood the impact of their words shows exactly how dangerous ignorance is," Plant said.

The exhibit showed photographs by Rachelle Lee Smith and was titled "Speaking OUT: Queer Youth in Focus." Smith, a Philadelphia native, was unable to attend the rally Tuesday, but said in a written statement that the vandalism was a cowardly act of "immature hate."

"I wish that the person did not misquote god and hide his or her hatred behind god," Smith said.

She also said that since the incident, the staff at UConn has been "the exact opposite of the vandalizer," a sentiment that was echoed by many of the speakers Tuesday.

King said that she's seen the university community react to the crime in ways she might not have expected 10 years ago. In the late '90s, The Princeton Review dubbed UConn one of the most homophobic universities in the country, she said. Now, UConn is ranked among the top LGBTQ-friendly universities and the crowd at Tuesday's rally reflected that, King said.

"We love that you're here," she said. "This means the world to me."

Despite support from the majority of the UConn community, students at the rally noted the importance of diversity campaigns given other acts of apparent intolerance around campus, including a report Tuesday morning that a large rock on campus painted with the message "Black Lives Matter" had been partially painted over. UConn police said they are reviewing the incident.

State Comptroller Kevin Lembo also attended the event, along with state Senator Mae Flexer. Lembo thanked the people gathered for having the courage to speak out.

"The bullies and the bigots need silence and fear," he said. "It's their oxygen."

The rally's organizers are also working on a "UConn Speak Out" campaign, with photographs posted to social media of students, professors and even university President Susan Herbst, holding white boards with messages against hate speech.

"UConn takes great pride in its LGBTQ community, as we take pride in all of our students, and we strive every day to ensure our campuses are safe and welcoming for every member of our diverse community," Herbst said in a written statement Tuesday. "That effort is in constant motion, and our work is never truly finished. Today, we join all those speaking out in support of our amazing students and our shared vision for our university."